Despite all this destruction, the period after the end of the US occupation (1945–52) was a golden age for the arts. In the absence of galleries, impromptu shows were held in every imaginable space: in schools, on beaches, train stations, parks, and in the streets. It was in this atmosphere that Jiro Yoshihara (1905–72) published the ‘Gutai Manifesto’ in 1956. He called for artists to ‘Take leave of these piles of counterfeit objects on the altars, in the palaces, in the salons and the antiques shops’ and to ‘Do what has never been done before!’